In
2002, Sega released the Sonic Mega Collection compilation of the
Gamecube, which contained almost every 16-bit Sonic game that appeared
on the Genesis. Notice how I used the word "almost", because Sega left
out Sonic CD, which is one particular game Sonic fans really wanted to
see in the compilation. Well, nearly three years later, Sega fulfills
that wish in the Sonic Gems Collection, where you finally get to play
Sonic CD over 10 years after it's release on a console. Now this is a
collection, which means there are other games in the compilation, but
in this case, it seems like the games are whatever leftovers Sega could
find to put on the disc, and yet it's STILL missing certain titles.

Aside
from Sonic CD (which is probably why you would pick this collection
up), you get Sonic R, Sonic The Fighters, a handful of Sonic games
released on the hand held Game Gear platform, and Vectorman 1 and 2
from the Genesis. While Sonic CD and the two Vectorman titles are solid
entries in the compilations, the other games feel like just filler.

Getting
into the games, Sonic CD is the basic reason to pick up the collection,
as it's the first time we actually get to play the game if we missed it
back in the 90's. Sonic CD falls between the original Sonic and Sonic
2. Tails is not there chasing you around, so you're alone throughout
the game. Sonic CD feels just like every other Sonic game released, but
one of the gimmicks is that you can jump back and forth through the
past, present, or future. What you do in those time periods can affect
your progress through the stage and the entire game. While this element
adds some strategy to the game, time travel has a bit of a random feel
since you blast through the stages so quickly, you don't know if you
activated a time post or not. As for boss battles, they're pretty weak,
and some of the easiest in Sonic history. Other than that, it's not a
bad game, and really would have fit in with the Sonic Mega Collection
rather than be set aside in this collection.

As
for Sonic R , the game is entertaining for awhile, as it is a racing
game (although you run instead of drive), but there are only five
courses and not much to do. At least it's a port of the PC version than
the Saturn release, as the textures are sharper and the overall look is
cleaner. If you're expecting something like Super Mario Kart, though,
you might be in for some disappointment. Sonic The Fighters was an
arcade game that feels like a heavily watered down version of Virtua
Fighter, nothing at all like what Nintendo did with Super Smash Bros..
You basically go one on one with a Sonic character and beat the living
rings out of them, but there's really no strategy to the fighting, and
no real depth whatsoever. Vectorman and Vectorman 2 are not really
relevant to the Sonic franchise,, but at least it's something different
and something worth your time. If you don't know what Vectorman is/was,
it was basically Sega's countermeasure to Nintendo's Donkey Kong
Country. Vectorman used the same kind of pre-rendered 3-D modeling DKC
used, but the game was more of a platforming shooter than an adventure
game. Both games are pretty challenging, so if you're looking something
tough, well, here you go.

Now
a word on the Game Gear games. If you already own Sonic Adventure DX
for the Gamecube or Sonic Mega Collection Plus for the PS2 or Xbox, you
probably won't bother with these games, because they've appeared on the
two said games above. If you haven't played these games before, then
you might find some mild thrills here. Note that these games don't look
that great (especially when they're magnified), since they're developed
for the Game Gear system. Sonic The Hedgehog 2 and Sonic Triple Trouble
are decent platformers that are a little different from their Genesis
counterparts, and if you're a Sonic fan, you'll probably play these all
the way through. Sonic Drift is a slow Mario-kart like game that really
wasn't such a good idea to develop for the Game Gear period. Tails Sky
Patrol and Tails Adventures are pretty disposable, with one not being
any better than the other. Finally, there's Sonic Spinball, which is
nice if you had a Game Gear then, but on a console, you would much
rather have the Genesis version. I do have something to say about the
appearance of Game Gear games in this collection: why are they here?
Sure, they're Sonic games, but wouldn't this be a better fit for a
collection on the GameBoy Advance?

While
it seems like Sega scraped up the leftovers in terms of Sonic games,
they actually still forgot some games. Knuckles Chaotix from the 32X,
while not great, should have been included in this collection. Also,
where is Sonic Labrynith from the Game Gear, and why couldn't they
include the Sonic game that appeared on the Neo Geo Pocket Color (even
though it's a modified version of Sonic 2 on the Genesis)? Streets Of
Rage should have been left in from the Japanese release, but Sega
didn't want to get a T-rating, so that got axed. Then there's Sonic
Shuffle on the Dreamcast, which was never ported to a console or
included in a compilation. How Sega could not include any of these
games is beyond me.

Visually,
the games are dated, but look how you would expect them to (maybe
better, in terms of Sonic R). Sonic CD looks like a Genesis game with a
little more color, but at least you never have any slowdown problems.
Sonic R is a port of the PC version of the game, so the textures are
sharper than the Saturn version, and lack the texture warping problem
prevalent in that era. Sonic The Fighters looks okay, but I've never
played the arcade version, so it's hard to compare the two versions.
The Game Gear titles look kind of ugly blown up in a full screen mode,
but these games were never meant for a big screen anyway. Vectorman and
Vectorman 2 look nice, probably the best looking games to come from the
Genesis console (although the color depth is not as great as the
pre-rendered SNES games). The menu for the collection is much cleaner,
but also a little more sterile, like Midway Arcade Treasures 3.

For
the audio, it's basically the same story. The music for Sonic CD and
Sonic R were disc based, so they sound better than the rest of the
games in the collection. Sonic R has some bizarre pop music with
lyrics, which really doesn't fit with the game (although they as weird
as they are, it would have been at home in Metropolis Street Racer on
the Dreamcast). The Game Gear games sound like Game Gear games, which
is to say that they sound like NES games. Vectorman 1 & 2
survive the translation with little to no audio errors. I will say one
thing about the effects in Sonic CD, particuarlly the jumping effect,
which is out of place. It doesn't sound like the other Sonic games,
it's weird and almost annoying. I don't know if it was there in the
original game or if they screwed up here, but it definitely doesn't
work.

Final
Thought

If
you never played Sonic CD, well this is pretty much the cheapest and
easiest way to do it. While much of the collection is filler, the two
Vectorman titles do increase replay value and challenge, even though
they have nothing to do with Sonic. It would have been nice to see
Knuckles Chaotix and Sonic Shuffle in the collection, but what can you
do? For $20, the game might be worth having if you're a Sonic fan, but
if all you want to do is play Sonic CD, you might just want to rent
this one.

.

.

Published
By :SEGA

Developed
By: SONIC
TEAM

Year Published :
2005

Players :
1-2

ESRB Rating:
EVERYONE

OVERALL
SCORE7.8

VISUALS

7.5

AUDIO

7.9

GAMEPLAY

8.0

REPLAY
VALUE

7.5

INNOVATION

7.0

Had these games been included in the original "Mega Collection", this
compilation wouldn't even be necessary.

Sega
Smash Pack

Sega Classics Collection

Sonic
Mega Collection

2003-2006 SPM
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